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Until Sugar Dean is found dead on a local golf course, the police on DCC Bob Skinner?s Edinburgh patch are having a quiet time. But that?s about to change. There?s something uncannily familiar about this murder, and it?s making Bob Skinner nervous. The body has been `laid out? in exactly the same way as the corpses of three young women in a previous case ? a case that was solved. Is it just freakish coincidence? Could this be the work of a copycat killer? Or is it possible that the previous case isn?t quite as closed as Skinner thought?

Oz Blackstone didn?t go looking for fame: it jumped out of an alleyway and mugged him with a fist full of high denomination notes. Movie stardom, wealth, a successful marriage ? Oz is standing on the brink of the Seriously Big Time and life just seems to keep lining up the cherries? He should have known it couldn?t stay that good for that long ? don?t the juiciest fruit always go sour? The first sign of trouble appears when Oz finds his ex-wife Primavera Phillips, drenched in her own tears ? her life in ruins, cheated out of her fortune and robbed of her baby boy, Tom, by his lying con-man father. What could Oz do but help? Maybe he should have called for help himself, or stuck to the game plan of looking after number one. Instead he set out on a voyage of dark intrigue and wild discovery that would turn his life upside down ? again.

When private enquiry agent Oz Blackstone takes on the job of finding an insurance company's missing half million, he's hoping for a healthy finder's fee, not a life-changing experience. But when he finds the corpse of the would-be embezzler with a knife in his back and no sign of the missing money, what had seemed like a routine job begins to look distinctly dodgy. Until the captivating Primavera 'Prim' Phillips arrives on the scene, wondering why she's been greeted not by her sister Dawn, but Dawn's dead boyfriend and a rather nervous-looking private eye. For Oz, things are looking up. This is the kind of girl who's definitely worth pursuing. Especially if she knows where to get her hands on half a million pounds ...

After cracking their first case together as a private investigation team, Oz Blackstone and Primavera Phillips find themselves simultaneously in love and in the money. And where better to lie back and contemplate life than the picturesque village of St Marti, on the rugged Costa Brava. But beneath the surface of their idyllic new home bubbles a brew of intrigue, deception - and murder. Before long Prim and Oz find themselves helping to evict a skeletal squatter whom the locals fear might harm the tourist trade, as well as trying to authenticate a previously undiscovered Dali masterpiece bought by a gullible client at a highly unconventional auction...

Free for a limited period, fans and new readers alike can enjoy the first title in Quintin Jardine's Oz Blackstone series - originally BLACKSTONE'S PURSUITS - updated with new material, exclusive to ebook. When private enquiry agent Oz Blackstone takes on the job of finding an insurance company's missing half million, he's hoping for a healthy finder's fee, not a life-changing experience. But when he finds the corpse of the would-be embezzler with a knife in his back and no sign of the missing money, what had seemed like a routine job begins to look distinctly dodgy. Until the captivating Primavera 'Prim' Phillips arrives on the scene, wondering why she's been greeted not by her sister Dawn, but Dawn's dead boyfriend and a rather nervous-looking private eye. For Oz, things are looking up. This is the kind of girl who's definitely worth pursuing. Especially if she knows where to get her hands on half a million pounds ...

Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner has a failed marriage on his hands, and a death on his conscience. In Edinburgh, Skinner?s daughter is being harassed by a stalker. Can he protect her? A bookmaker has taken one gamble too many and paid his debt in a gruesome fashion. Is it an underworld vendetta, or something more sinister? Alongside it all a casual call to the Chief Constable sets him on a personal crusade which quickly points to a bigamist at work. Or is it worse? Four crimes, four crises: can Skinner and his people solve them? Indeed, can they survive them?

It's the Fiesta de San Juan in Spain, the national celebration of the Summer Solstice, and there's much excitement about a huge firework display in the village of St Marti. But Primavera Blackstone is more inflamed by the appearance of a mysterious writer, Duncan Culshaw, who is determined to rake through the ashes of her past. And when extortion and blackmail are mentioned, Primavera realises the heat is on. Duncan has his fingers burned, playing fast and loose with the fiercely protective Prim, but when he marries a dying woman for her money, threatening the inheritance of Prim's son Tom, things are going to get explosive...but happily, there's a new guardian angel in town.

When a body is found after a flood, the secrets of a tempestuous life surface with it. Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner has kept the existence of his hated brother Michael hidden for years. As he relives their past conflict, other demons threaten his future. For not only are his professional enemies circling, but Sarah, his wife, seems set on a course for calamity. Can Skinner surmount the greatest challenges of his life... and if he does, will he ever be the same? Meanwhile, in an Edinburgh art gallery, his team confront a shocking and very public case of arson. Was it a political protest, or something much deeper?

August in Edinburgh: As Skinner stands on the edge of a career-defining moment and his fiancée, Scotland's First Minister Aileen de Marco faces a political crisis, a famous figure from another field is found dead. As the mystery deepens, Skinner finds himself crossing swords with an old enemy from the past, while his investigating detectives are faced with the unwelcome complication of a duke?s junkie daughter. Meanwhile a second Scottish celebrity dies violently in Australia. It seems impossible, but could the two be connected? As DCS Mario McGuire heads to Melbourne to investigate, back in Scotland his boss?s big moment is compromised in the most dramatic and unexpected manner, as a famous friendship is shattered for ever.

It?s summertime in Monaco and Oz Blackstone is sitting on the verandah of his opulent mansion ? one of three homes ? idly gazing at Roman Abramovich?s luxury yacht as it gently cruises into the harbour. Life doesn?t get much better than this.The demons of the past begin to creep up on Oz?s sunny life: blackmail and murder are lurking in the shadows. Oz travels all the way to Singapore to track down the owner of some incriminating photographs but he?s in grave danger of over-exposure. And when organised crime muscles in on the picture, Oz is getting perilously close to losing a lot more than his wealth and reputation...

Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner has a lot on his plate. One of the world?s most ruthless terrorists is on his way to Edinburgh with only one thing on his mind: the forthcoming conference of world Heads of Government. If Skinner doesn't pick up his trail fast, he could have a global disaster in his backyard. While all eyes are focused on the terrorist threat, a terminally ill woman is found dead - an apparent suicide. But the marks of an assisted death are discovered. Yet this seemingly random death soon proves to be the beginning of an ominous pattern. For Skinner, the desperate race to find a heartless terrorist mixes uneasily with the search for a mercy killer- a search which takes on a poignant personal significance. And it's not long before Skinner himself will be staring death straight in the eye...

DCC Bob Skinner has witnessed the aftermath of murder countless times. Yet nothing could have prepared him for identifying the strangled bodies of his wife's beloved parents, killed at their lakeside cabin in New York State. Driven by cold rage, Skinner quickly muscles in on the investigation, and soon he's found links with three other cases where the killing is too professional to be the result of a burglary gone wrong. But can he penetrate the multiple layers of intrigue to unearth the killer?

Free for a limited period, an original short story featuring DS 'Sauce' Haddock and Scotland's finest, Chief Constable Bob Skinner, available exclusively in ebook. When DS 'Sauce' Haddock visits his old teacher to investigate an alleged jewellery theft, it quickly becomes clear that another, far darker truth, lies beneath the surface. With Chief Constable Bob Skinner's help, Haddock will soon discover that outward appearances are never as they seem, and that no crime can go unpunished... Also features an exclusive extract from Quintin Jardine's brand-new Bob Skinner mystery, HOUR OF DARKNESS.

Quintin Jardine's new Bob Skinner novel sees the Edinburgh cop faced with a case that calls every part of his life into question. The body of a murdered woman is found washed up on Cramond Island near the mouth of the River Forth. Days later detectives are called to a flat in Edinburgh; the kitchen is covered in blood, and the occupier is missing. When the name of the woman from Cramond Island is revealed, it stirs unwelcome memories for those who knew her, Chief Constable Bob Skinner most of all. Now based in Glasgow, he has no reason to become involved in the case. Yet he does, unwittingly setting in motion a course that leads him to the toughest choice of his life, putting him in the midst of a personal nightmare, both life-threatening and career changing.

Shock!: Oz Blackstone has died and his ex-wife - the feisty, tough-talking Primavera Blackstone - takes over as investigator in a thrilling new series. Her mind still filled with thoughts of her dead ex-husband, Oz, Primavera Blackstone is in Spain with their son Tom when their peace is breached again with the arrival of her elderly but formidable aunt, Adrienne McGowan. All is not well in Auntie Ades world; her roguish son Frank has become involved with a shady international casino project and has disappeared. Prim flies to Seville to track him down, only to find herself a fugitive, with her life under threat, as her aunt joins the missing persons list, and Tom is forced to flee to safety. As she and her companion in danger cross Spain in a struggle to keep themselves alive, and to free Adrienne, Prim finds herself at the centre of a maelstrom of mystery...

A brilliant new stand-alone crime thriller from Scotland's Crime MasterXavier (Xavi) Aislado is a gentle giant, half Spanish, half Scot, brought up in Edinburgh by his grandmother, Paloma Puig, a ferocious old lady whose grim brand of care sees him into his teens, until his father moves back to Spain, leaving him to grow up fast. His emergence into manhood is colourful, and eventful. After a short career as a professional footballer, he turns to journalism, and has a bloody introduction to the trade, as his first assignment ends in violent death. Inevitably, remorselessly, as his autobiography unfolds, Xavi's life and his love become entwined with his work, and he is immersed in tragedy, loss and betrayal, going halfway round the world in search of a truth that may destroy him.Quintin Jardine's evocation of Xavi's fated world, of the towering being that is Grandma Paloma, and of his love, the beautiful, wilful and hypnotic Grace Starshine, is an unforgettable story of a man riding a one-way train to oblivion. Will he escape, before it hits the buffers, full-speed?

In this, his landmark fortieth novel, Quintin Jardine tells the remarkable story of a man's quest for justice - at any cost. 1818, Carluke, Lanarkshire. Mathew Fleming returns home to Scotland following heroic service at the Battle of Waterloo. After seven years away, he is a ghostly presence to those he left behind. But Mathew is ambitious and soon becomes a man of influence in his county and beyond. Yet through all his success, he still hides the loss of his one true love. When a terrible act of murder occurs, Mathew must choose between the rule of blood and the rule of law. And as a man of honour with a warrior's instincts, he embarks on a journey of vengeance that will test every sinew of his faith in mankind...

In Edinburgh?s old Parliament House, an armed robbery trial is about to take a macabre turn. While the lawyers tussle over the evidence, the judge suddenly collapses in agony ? the victim of an apparent heart attack. For Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner, with his life finally back on track after the near-collapse of his marriage, the last thing he needs is to be faced with the most baffling case of his career. But as the wave of brutal robberies continues, it emerges that Lord Archergait?s death may have been murder ? and he?s not the only judge whose life is in danger. With a gang of ruthless killers still at large, it?s down to Skinner to piece together a puzzle of sinister complexity.

Oz and Primavera face their toughest case yet when a body turns up in their own backyard, in this thrilling novel in the acclaimed series from bestselling author Quintin Jardine.Returning to L'Escala, the idyllic Spanish village where they were once so happy, Oz Blackstone and Primavera Phillips are looking to forget the past. But old ghosts are not so easy to placate, and the shadow of Oz's childhood sweetheart Jan, now tragically dead, is threatening to turn their relationship into a seething cauldron of recrimination. Until a body turns up face down in the swimming pool of their new villa, and suddenly they are very much back in the harness again. Faced with the indifference of the local police, Oz and Prim are forced to investigate the murder themselves, and soon they begin to uncover a nest of vipers beneath L'Escala's sunny exterior...

When Oz Blackstone is offered a major role in a cop movie shooting in Edinburgh, he cannot resist taking centre stage. And Oz has had a brief liaison with Susie Gantry, a beautiful and self-possessed business woman, that is turning into something much more long term. It all looks like a bowl of cherries until ex-lover Alison Goodchild turns up asking for a favour. When he finds Alison's business partner murdered in her flat, Oz can't help but suspect he's been set up. And when he discovers a trail of intrigue leading to the cast of the star-studded movie in which he is performing, those cherries begin to taste very rancid indeed...

'After what happened, none of us can be sure we're going to see tomorrow' The killing was an expert hit. Three shots through the head, as the lights dimmed at a celebrity concert in Glasgow. A most public crime, and Edinburgh Chief Constable Bob Skinner is right in the centre of the storm, as it breaks over the Strathclyde force. The shooters are dead too, killed at the scene. But who sent them? The crisis finds Skinner, his private life shattered by the shocking end of his marriage, taking a step that he had sworn he never would. Tasked by Scotland's First Minister with the investigation of the outrage, he finds himself quickly uncovering some very murky deeds...The trail leads to London, where national issues compromise the hunt. Skinner has to rattle the bars of the most formidable cage in the country, and go head to head with its leading power brokers . . . a confrontation that seems too much, even for him. Can the Chief solve the most challenging mystery of his career . . . or will failure end it?

A complex tale of deception and revenge leads Skinner and his people to a bloody encounter and a dramatic confrontation...The horrific suicide of a successful Lithuanian entrepreneur rouses suspicion amongst the newly appointed Chief Constable

For Oz Blackstone, the days of getting into trouble for a living, otherwise known as being a private enquiry agent, could soon be behind him. An undercover stint posing as a TV wrestling Master of Ceremonies has convinced him that he might just have a bit of a hidden theatrical talent. So when Oz gets the chance of a bit-part in a movie, it seems like an offer he can't refuse - even though his own life is fast developing a dramatic storyline of its own, with a frightening series of accidents befalling people close to him. And when the female lead is kidnapped from the set in a bizarre echo of the movie's rollercoaster plot, fiction and reality come together in a terrifying climax. But has Oz got what it takes to save the day?

An explosion rocks Princes Street in the midst of the Edinburgh Festival. Responsibility is claimed by a group supposedly demanding political separation from Britain, but as atrocities escalate Skinner realises this is no gang of fanatics, but a highly professional team. The Fighters for an Independent Scotland want the English out of Scotland too and they're ready to back up their demands with bombings, murders and blackmail threats aimed at wreaking havoc at the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts. But the Fighters haven't reckoned with Assistant Chief Constable Bob Skinner, head of the Edinburgh CID and security adviser to Secretary of State Alan Ballantyne. Even as craven Ballantyne vows empty defiance of the Fighters, defending his principles with the blood of innocent coppers and bystanders, Skinner assembles a crack task force, carries the ball when the Secretary fumbles on the air, and wrestles with the beast within, who emerges with periodic ferocity to foil a clever, greedy scheme involving the crown jewels and Skinner's own daughter.

Deputy Chief Constable Bob Skinner could be forgiven for thinking not only that someone up there doesn't like him, but that someone down here is out to get him. Suffering the strain of a marriage on the rocks, the last thing he needs is for his private life to be plastered across the front pages of a sleazy tabloid. To make matters worse, two brutal murders and new allegations about Skinner himself make simultaneous headlines. As time ticks away, Skinner faces the greatest, and most personal, tests of his career. Unless he can clear his name and uncover the secret behind the series of brutal crimes, he stands to lose everything: his family, his career and even his life and liberty.

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